Training day with Emma Purshouse

Emma Purshouse is one of those people I, and so many others, COMPLETELY admire and can rely on one hundred per cent. So when I was working out who I would like Paul Kielty and I to receive specialist training from – to prepare us ahead of giving our own Painting By Pixels workshops at Derwen College and Designs in Mind, in May 2018 – she was the obvious go-to person to ask.

She did not disappoint.

She showed us: by giving us, and filling it in herself – a Jackie magazine-style multiple-choice questionnaire on “What’s your learning style?” – how we all vary a lot in how we best learn – but we all have one similar way of learning – learning by doing (or kinesthetic learning) – in common. So if we make sure our workshops are catering for kinesthetic learners then we know the workshop will be fully inclusive

So what did we take away from the day – apart from a lot of laughter, and well-fed stomachs?…

We need to do any activity in short bursts

We need to eliminate anxiety when setting up any activity

We need to give options when discussing an activity and give permission to take part in variations on the theme

We need to remember that dyslexics like cream paper with purpley text ideally, but black is fine; and that not everyone can read – and this will cause them anxiety

We need to provide extension activities for those who are quicker and fidgetty – to allow the slower anxious-to-do-it-exactly-right to have the time they need

To know that we may need to start with a flexible activity as people will arrive late

to have more activities prepared than less

She told us some very funny stories about what can and will go wrong and ideas of how to handle these moments

And to send Lesson plans to the organisation hosting the workshops – which includes all the resources you expect from them – however obvious they may seem to us

The whole day itself was a masterclass in show-not-tell. And all the points are properly welded into both our brains.